Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's daughter Zahara drops dad's last name during graduation ceremony
ATLANTA, GEORGIA: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s daughter Zahara Jolie drew attention after graduating from Spelman College on Sunday, May 17, as the ceremony, attended by family members, sparked discussion when she was publicly introduced with a name that omitted her father’s surname.
The moment was widely interpreted as another indication of her growing distance from Pitt, following similar decisions made by her siblings in recent years amid the estranged couple’s ongoing legal battles. The couple’s marriage was legally dissolved in April 2019 after a judge officially declared them single.
Zahara Jolie previously omitted Brad Pitt's last name during her sorority induction ceremony
At the ceremony, Zahara received her Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology, and this was not the first time she publicly omitted the last name of her estranged father. In 2023, when Zahara joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, she introduced herself as Zahara Marley Jolie.
In a video from the sorority’s induction ceremony, she shouted the same name, while shaking her hair and performing a series of moves. At the time, social media users also noted that one of her brothers had dropped their father’s last name years earlier.
In 2021, an insider alleged, “Maddox wants to legally change his last name to Jolie which Angelina has said she doesn’t support.” At the time, social media users also pointed out that one of her brothers had dropped their father’s last name years earlier.
In 2021, it was reported that the former couple’s son Maddox “doesn’t use Pitt as his last name on documents that aren’t legal and instead uses Jolie.” In 2024, their youngest daughter, Vivienne, also appeared to distance herself from her father while working alongside her mother on the Broadway adaptation of 'The Outsiders'.
At the time, her name was listed as “Vivienne Jolie” in the show’s playbill. Meanwhile, Shiloh formally removed Pitt from her last name on her 18th birthday, with Entertainment Tonight reporting in June 2024 that the teenager “hired her own lawyer and paid for it herself.”
The exes share six children, Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne, with Jolie adopting Maddox from Cambodia in 2002 and Zahara three years later before Pitt legally adopted both children in December 2005.
Family tensions continue amid legal battles
The 'Mr and Mrs Smith' co-stars began dating in 2005 and married in 2014 after welcoming Shiloh in 2006, followed by twins Knox and Vivienne in 2008, though all six children have reportedly distanced themselves from their father since the 2016 split.
Although Pitt has secured a series of recent legal victories against Jolie, reports suggest the actress continues to hold the stronger position in the family dynamic. In 2024, it was reported that Pitt hoped to “forge” closer bonds with the children as they “get older and have a life of their own.”
“It’s extremely upsetting,” a Pitt source admitted, claiming, “She has used the kids as a weapon against Brad … she has separated them from him. There is a whole pattern: Any time he has a win in court, she hits back with something to do with the kids.”
The 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' star has been embroiled in a custody battle with Jolie since their split, with tensions between the former couple reportedly growing increasingly bitter over the years. Pitt secured a private 50-50 custody agreement in 2021, though it was later overturned that same year.
Just weeks ago, the family’s former security guard Tony Webb alleged in court documents that Jolie had encouraged the children to “avoid” their father during visits. Last summer, it was also reported that the 'F1' star continues to have a “strained” relationship with his children despite making “several efforts to reconnect.”
